REFLECTING ON THE LEGACY OF DR. STERN Dr. Guy Stern, the Director of the International Institute of the Righteous at The Zekelman Holocaust Center (The HC), has passed away at age 101. He would have celebrated his 102nd birthday on January 14. A decorated war hero, Holocaust survivor, and distinguished scholar, Dr. Stern was instrumental in the intelligence efforts of the Allied powers that ultimately defeated Nazi Germany during World War II. Three of The Ritchie Boys, including Dr. Guy Stern (left) Dr. Stern was a pillar at The HC. He joined its Board of Directors in 1987, served on advisory ..read more

By Ashley Koch, Museum Educator at The HC A COMMUNITY EMERGES The roots of the modern LGBTQ+ movement lie in Germany, where a community of self-conscious and openly gay men and women began to emerge in the second half of the 19th century. This group of activists and professionals advocated for a new view of “homosexuality,” conceived of not as a moral failing or mental illness, but rather as an inborn characteristic worthy of toleration. They were galvanized into action by the nationalization of the Prussian penal code, which criminalized homosexual behavior between men in Paragraph 175. Portr ..read more

By Hannah Mills, Education Associate at The HC – On April 15, 2023, we marked the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp located in Lower Saxony in Northern Germany. While many recall it as the final resting place of Anne and Margot Frank, I associate it with my grandfather, Hans Joseph “Harry” Isenberg (1930-1981), who was liberated from the camp shortly before his 15th birthday. A photograph of Harry Isenberg in Sweden on December 15, 1945.SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION I did not know my grandfather. He died many years before my birth, but I have always felt a k ..read more

By Joshua Wilson, Museum Educator at The HC – During Black History Month, we want to honor the memories of Black people who lived through the violent and hateful ideology of Nazism, and make sure their stories are told. Discrimination and the Third Reich Before World War II, Germany’s Black population, composed mainly of colonial subjects from Africa, the Caribbean, and South America, experienced hostilities. Interracial families were harassed, and lack of citizenship and racism resulted in few opportunities for employment. Discrimination worsened with the rise of the Third Reich. Laws intende ..read more

By: Feiga Weiss, Head Librarian and Archivist –  Hans Weinmann’s Portrait of Honor On Wednesday, September 15, 2021, Hans Weinmann was laid to rest in the Clover Hill Park Cemetery, in Birmingham. It was a graveside service attended by his wife and a group of his closest friends. As a US Army veteran, he was accorded full military honors by several of his fellow servicemen wearing full dress uniform, saluting him, presenting the US flag to Mrs. Weinmann, and the playing of Taps as his casket was lowered. Hans Weinmann will be remembered for his integrity, commitment and sense of responsib ..read more

By: Becca Gallick-Mitchell – Friend of the HMC My name is Becca Gallick-Mitchell, and I’m a third generation Holocaust educator, recipe developer/blogger, and the founder of the InstaGrandma’s Kitchen website and Instagram. Although I’m constantly developing my own recipes, my underlying reason for starting InstaGrandma’s Kitchen was to share my family’s most precious recipes that survived the Holocaust. This helps my Grandma Mala Dorfman’s legacy extend to and touch the lives of others as well. I offer storytelling events as well as cooking classes and step-by-step demonstrations focusing on ..read more

By: George Erdstein, Holocaust Survivor – George Erdstein was born in Vienna, Austria, shortly after Hitler’s “Anschluss” in 1938. He emigrated to the USA and settled in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City with other refugee families. He received a degree in Architecture from Columbia University in 1962. George moved to Michigan in 1966, started a family and opened an architectural practice. He has been a docent and speaker at the Holocaust Memorial Center since 2004.A Matter of Luck My parents, Berthold and Ida Erdstein, were both born in Vienna. Drafted into the Austrian Arm ..read more

By: HMC Editorial Staff –  On June 27, 2021, we listened to Atina Grossmann, Professor of History at the Cooper Union in New York City, discuss the Jews who escaped Europe for India and Iran after 1933. On the margins of the Holocaust and anxious about their families’ fates, they were homeless and stateless, but also oddly privileged as adventurous Europeans in non-western societies. Both of the speaker’s parents were European Jewish refugees in India and Iran, and we heard the captivating tale of their lives. If you missed the Trauma and Adventure in Transit: Jewish Refugees of India and ..read more